Killing Was Legal Under U.S. and International Law, Many Experts Say

By
Dionne Searcey

Updated May 6, 2011 12:01 am ET

Many U.S. legal experts hold firm that the White House is on solid legal footing for its strike teams to carry out attacks on al Qaeda members abroad.

As legal justification, law professors and other experts in military operations uniformly cite an act of Congress that was passed shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: the Authorization for Use of Military Force.